John Banville

HeadPig

Anyone here read much of him?

I read The Sea years ago, and I think I liked it but I was very young so I must reread it. His other work seems to be quite acclaimed as well.

daithiocondun

Hey there,

Yes, I know of him. I have only read one of his novels. This was part of my undergraduate studies on The Big House genre in Irish writing. It was more of a novella, called "The Newton Letter". He' not the easiest writer to read, but is considered one the better contemporary Irish writers.

HeadPig

What's the Big House genre?

catallus

I love Banville, I finished The Sea not so long ago, it really is a beautiful novel, if you were very young I'm sure you'll enjoy it more now.

That said, I remember reading "On Writing" by Steven King (a writer I admire) and he was very dismissive of the showy language used by some "Worthy Novelists" because he said it was taking away from the actual telling of a story to the reader. I empathise with this point of view. He didn't name Banville in particular but it made me think of him. King actually listed one of Benjamin Black's novels as a "must read" at the end of his book.

I think Banville has such a command of vocabulary and story-telling, he can weave an intricate and interesting story, while at the same time going very deep into a character. The Untouchable is a great novel too, as is Shroud. I'm starting The Infinities soon enough. Great writer.

adrian522

Been meaning to read "The Book of Evidence" for a while now, I've heard it's very good.

daithiocondun

HeadPig wrote: »

What's the Big House genre?

"The Big House" is a common literary reference to any number of Irish novels which are set in.... a big house!

In other words, it refers to Irish novels which are set in a large house, or feature a large estate house which serves as a backdrop. Most of these novels are written around war-time Ireland, usually in the period of "The Troubles" in Ireland.

Banville's "Newton Letter" is about a writer who rents a small cottage near Fern House, a Big House occupied by mysterious occupants who both unsettle and enamor him.

Notable examples of Big House fiction are:
Maria Edgeworth's "Castle Rackrent" (The first Big House novel)
George Moore's "A Drama in Muslin"
Jennifer Johnson's "How Many Miles to Babylon"
Elizabeth Bowen's "The Last September"
Edna O' Brien's "House of Splendid Isolation".

This link is good.

http://cco.cambridge.org/extract?id=ccol0521861918_CCOL0521861918A004

Fox_In_Socks

I've read Keplar and tried to read another of his, but couldn't get into it (can't remember what it was called).

Keplar didn't grip me. Maybe because it was about an German astronomer from the 16th centuary and I wasn't able to relate to him?